In a first-of-its-kind initiative in Winnipeg, the city’s snowplows have been christened with new monikers selected through a naming contest involving thousands of participants. Residents of all ages were encouraged to propose names for 12 heavy snow-clearing machines, including six graders and six loaders. Additionally, classrooms were invited to suggest a team name for a set of walk-behind push-plows.
This naming tradition seems to have originated in Scotland back in 2006, where schoolchildren were asked to come up with names for plows, or gritters as they are known in the U.K. The winning names for Winnipeg’s snowplows are as follows: Dancing Blade, Melt Stegall, Emperor Plowpatine, Kevin ShovelSnowOff, Sled Penner, Grady Oliveira, Hellebuycket, Slosh Morrissey, Greg, Mark Shovele, Winnie the Plow, and Mr. Plow. Winners were presented with custom name plates as tokens of appreciation during the announcement event.
Mayor Scott Gillingham expressed his delight at the community’s enthusiastic participation, with over 13,000 votes cast for the submitted names. The city also tasked classrooms with naming the team of walk-behind push-plows, with the winning entry, Brrrrr-ger Kings from Ms. Tugby’s class at Van Belleghem School, earning a pizza party with Mayor Gillingham at city hall. Gillingham highlighted that the chosen name was a tribute to the hardworking snow-clearing crews who brave the cold weather.
The newly named snow-clearing equipment will retain their designations until the next naming contest, as confirmed by the mayor.